The Science of Human Nature by William Henry Pyle (best ereader under 100 TXT) đź“•
But another importance attaches to the brain. When a sense organ is stimulated and this stimulation passes on to the brain and agitates a cell or group of cells there, we are conscious. Consciousness shifts and changes with every shift and change of the stimulation.
The brain has still another important characteristic. After it has been stimulated through sense organ and nerve, a similar brain activity can be revived later, and this revival is the basis of memory. When the brain is agitated through the medium of a sense organ, we have sensation; when this agitation is revived later, we hav
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“Now go | and pick that book up!” | ordered the master. | The servant | started | to obey, | but a passerby | had saved him | the trouble, | and had walked off | with the book. | The scientist | thereupon | began to wonder | what book | he had thrown away, | and to his horror, | discovered | that it was a quaint | and rare | little | volume | of poems, | which he had purchased | in London | for fifty | dollars. |
But his troubles | were not over. | The weeks went by | and the man had almost | forgotten his loss, | when, strolling | into a secondhand | bookshop, | he saw, | to his great delight, | a copy of the book | he had lost. | He asked the price. |
“Well,” | said the dealer, | reflectively, | “I guess we can let you have it | for forty | dollars. | It is a very | rare book, | and I am sure | that I could get seventy-five | dollars for it | by holding on a while.” |
The man of science | pulled out his purse | and produced the money, | delighted at the opportunity of replacing | his lost | treasure. | When he reached home, | a card | dropped out | of the leaves. | The card was his own, | and further | examination | showed that he had bought back | his own property. |
“Forty dollars’ | worth of temper,” | exclaimed the man. | “I think I shall mend my ways.” | His disposition | afterward | became so | good | that | the servant became worried, | thinking the man | must be ill. |
Figure VIII—Logical Memory—“A Farmer’s Son”
The Results. The material for the test is divided into units as indicated by the vertical lines. The pupil’s written reproduction should be compared unit by unit with the story as printed, and given one credit for each unit adequately reproduced. The norms for the three tests are shown in the accompanying Figures VII, VIII, and IX. In these and all the graphs which follow, the actual ages are shown in the first horizontal column. The norms for girls appear in the second horizontal column, the norms for boys in the column at the bottom. By the norm for an age is meant the average performance of all the pupils of that age examined. Age ten applies to those pupils who have passed their tenth birthday and have not reached their eleventh birthday, and the other ages are to be similarly interpreted. The vertical lines in the graphs indicate birthdays and the scores written on these lines indicate ability at these exact ages. The column marked ten, for example, includes all the children that are over ten and not yet eleven. The graphs show the development from age to age. In general, it will be noticed, there is an improvement of memory with age, but in the high school, in the “Costly Temper” test, there is a decline. This may not indicate a real decline in ability to remember ideas, but a change in attitude. The high school pupil probably acquires a habit of remembering only significant facts. His memory is selective, while in the earlier ages, the memory may be more parrot-like, one idea being reproduced with about as much fidelity as another. This statement is made not as a fact, but as a probable explanation.
Rote MemoryFigure IX—Logical Memory—“A Costly Temper”
Object. The object of the rote memory tests is to determine the pupil’s memory span for unrelated impressions—words that have no logical relations with one another. Much school work makes demands upon this ability. Therefore, the tests are of importance.
Method. There are two lists of words, concrete and abstract, with six groups in each list. The list of concrete words should be given first, then the abstract. The procedure is to pronounce the first group, cat, tree, coat, and then pause for the pupils to write these three words. Then pronounce the next group, mule, bird, cart, glass, and pause for the reproduction, and so on through the list.
Figure X—Concrete Rote Memory
Give the following instructions:
We wish to see how well you can remember words. I shall pronounce first a group of three words. After I have pronounced them, you are to write them down. I shall then pronounce a group of four words, then one of five words, and so continue with a longer group each time. You must pay very close attention for I shall pronounce a group but once. You are not required to write the words in their order, but just as you recall them.
Material. The words for the test are given in the following lists:
Concrete Abstract cat, tree, coat mule, bird, cart, glass star, horse, dress, fence, man fish, sun, head, door, shoe, block train, mill, box, desk, oil, pup, bill floor, car, pipe, bridge, hand, dirt, cow, crank good, black, fast clean, tall, round, hot long, wet, fierce, white, cold deep, soft, quick, dark, great, dead sad, strong, hard, bright, fine, glad, plain sharp, late, sour, wide, rough, thick, red, tightFigure XI—Abstract Rote Memory
Results. The papers are graded by determining the number of concrete words and the number of abstract words that are reproduced. No account is taken of whether the words are in the right position or not. A perfect score in each test would therefore be thirty-three. The norms are shown in Figures X and XI.
The Substitution TestObject. This test determines one’s ability to build up new associations. It is a test of quickness of learning.
Method. The substitution test-sheets are distributed to the pupils and turned face down on the desks. The teacher gives the following instructions:
We wish to see how fast you can learn. At the top of the sheet which has been distributed to you there is a key. In nine circles are written the nine digits and for each digit there is written a letter which is to be used instead of the digit. Below the key are two columns of numbers; each number contains five digits. In the five squares which follow the number you are to write the letters which correspond to the digits. Work as fast as you can and fill as many of the squares as you can without making mistakes. When I say “stop,” quit work instantly and turn the paper over.
Before beginning the test the teacher should explain on the blackboard the exact nature of the test. This can be done by using other letters instead of those used in the key. Make sure that the pupils understand what they are to do. Allow eight minutes in grades three, four, and five, and five minutes above the fifth grade.
Material. For material, use the substitution test-sheets. This and the other test material can be obtained from the University of Missouri, Extension Division.
Results. In grading the work, count each square correctly filled in as one point, and reduce the score to speed per minute by dividing by eight in grades three, four, and five, and by five in the grades above.
The norms are shown in Figure XII.
Figure XII—Substitution Test
Free AssociationObject. This test determines the speed of the free flow of ideas. The result of the test is a criterion of the quickness of the flow of ideas when no restriction or limitation is put on this flow.
Method. The procedure in this test is to give the pupils a word, and tell them to write this word down and all the other words that come into their minds. Make it clear to them that they are to write whatever word comes to mind, whether it has any relation to the word that is given them or not. Start them with the word “cloud.” Give the following instructions:
I wish to see how many words you can think of and write down in three minutes. I shall name a word, you may write it down and then all the other words that come into your minds. Do not write sentences, merely the words that come into your minds. Work as fast as you can.
Figure XIII—Free Association Test
Results. Score the work by counting the number of words that have been written. The norms are shown in Figure XIII.
OppositesObject. This is a test of controlled association. It tests one aspect of the association of ideas. All thinking is a matter of association of ideas. Reasoning is controlled association. The test may therefore be taken as a measure of speed in reasoning.
Figure XIV—Opposites Test—Lists I and II
Method. Distribute the lists of opposites to the pupils and turn them face down on the desks. Use List One in grades three, four, and five, and List Two in grades above. Allow two minutes in grades three, four, and five and one minute in grades above. Give the following instructions:
On the sheets that have been distributed to you are fifty words. After each word you are to write a word that has the opposite meaning. For example, if one word were “far,” you could write “near.” Work as fast as you can, and when I say “stop” quit work instantly and turn your paper over.
Results. The score is the number of opposites correctly written. The norms are shown in Figure XIV.
OPPOSITES—LIST NO. 1 OPPOSITES—LIST NO. 2 good big rich out sick hot long wet yes high hard sweet clean sharp fast black old up thick quick pretty heavy late wrong smooth strong dark dead wide empty above north laugh man before winter ripe night open first over love come east top wise front girl sad fat strong deep lazy seldom thin soft many valuable gloomy rude dark rough pretty high foolish present glad strange wrong quickly black good fast clean tall hot long wet fierce great dead cloudy hard bright fine plain sharp late sour wide drunk tight empty sick friend above loud war in yes The Word-Building TestObject. This is a test of a certain type of inventiveness, namely linguistic invention. Specifically, it tests the pupil’s ability to construct words using certain prescribed letters.
Figure XV—Word-Building Test
Method. The pupils are given the letters, a, e, o, m, n, r, and told to make as many words as possible using only these letters. Give the following instructions:
I wish to see how many words you can make in five minutes, using only the letters which I give you. The words must be real English words. You must use only the letters which I give you and must not use the same letter more than once in the same word. You do not, of course, have to use all the letters in the same word. A word may contain one or more letters up to six.
Material. The pupils need only sheets of blank paper.
Results. The score is the number of words that do not violate the rules of the test as given in the instructions. The norms are shown in Figure XV.
The Completion TestObject. This is, to some extent, a test of reasoning capacity. Of course, it is only one particular aspect of reasoning. The pupil is given a story that has certain words omitted. He must read the story, see what it is trying to say, and determine what words, put into the blanks, will make the correct sense. The meaning of the word written in a particular blank must not only make the sentence read sensibly but must fit into the story as a whole. Filling in the blanks in
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